Mother India is the birthplace of yoga. Patanjali (considered the Father of Yoga) was conceived by Goneeka, who is therefore The Grand Dame of Yoga.

Jewels of feminine yoga inspiration.

A small amount done every day, day after day, can go a long way, it can make a huge, huge difference. ~ Patricia Walden

Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness. ~ Indra Devi

The power of love and compassion is unparalleled. ~ Ammaji

Yoga is a natural way to find whatever we need in the moment without having to seek it outside of ourselves. ~ Stacie Saraswati Dooreck

It takes mental strength to pursue physical endurance through yoga…Hey, what are you doing, are you sleeping? What are you waiting for? ~ Usha Devi

Yoga is a huge lifetime of learning…only one part in the huge cog of life, it’s up to each individual to take what they can from its many benefits. ~ Bridget Moriarity

When I started doing asana, the yoga postures, I had a very strong feeling of many unnecessary things dropping away – especially tension and inadequacy. ~ Patricia Sullivan

Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode. ~ Melanie Haiken

Life would be much easier and substantially less painful if we lived with the knowledge of impermanence as the only constant. ~ Donna Farhi

What kind of world is forming now, beyond this winter of war and sorrow, of poverty, pollution and death? In the winter, we foresee the spring…But we can get to that stage only when there are leaders to take us there. ~ Didi Janki

Find the One everywhere and in everything and there will be an end to pain and suffering. ~ Anandamayi Ma

The purpose of yoga is to know thyself. If thyself is having a moment of shimmering depression, let’s look at it, then let it go. ~ Lilias Folan

A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done. No matter how brave its warriors or how strong its weapons. ~ Cheyenne ProverbDon’t live your life based on opinion polls and what other people think of you. ~ Shirley O’Neil

Listen–are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? ~ Mary OliverYou eat this, never no problem! ~ Ping “Shanti” Song (on benefit of leafy greens)I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself. ~ Rita Mae Brown

I don’t personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.~ Maya Angelou

War is not healthy for children and other living things. ~ Lorraine Schneider

HELPED are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be constant. HELPED are those who love the entire cosmos rather than their own tiny country, city, or farm, for to them will be shown the unbroken web of life and the meaning of infinity. HELPED are those who live in quietness, knowing neither brand name nor fad; they shall live every day as if in eternity, and each moment shall be as full as it is long. HELPED are those who love others unsplit off from their faults; to them will be given clarity of vision. ~ Alice Walker

I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart. ~ Alice Walker

As hot as it was, you ought to thank me. -Nanci Kinkaid

…there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do – determined to save the only life you could save. ~ Mary Oliver

The way of the miracle-worker is to see all human behavior as one two things: either love, or a call for love.~ Marianne Williamson

You want to cry aloud for your mistakes. But to tell the truth the world doesn’t need any more of that sound. ~ Mary Oliver

The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren’t enough. ~ Amy Weintraub

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou

It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.~ Mother Theresa

A dead end street is a good place to turn around. ~ Naomi Judd

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.~ Helen Keller

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. ~ Helen Keller

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story

For those wounded by civilization, yoga is the most healing salve. ~ Terri Guillemets

This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love. ~ Peace Pilgrim

There’s a difference between an open heart, which can feel, process, and stay steady, versus a stuck-open-window heart, which lets all sorts of crap fly in. ~ Ana T. Forrest

He first came to Nepal in the mid-1990s and returns every available chance. His guidebooks include areas that receive little attention from tourists. The mid-hills of Nepal are rich with culture, customs and traditions. His aim is to introduce travelers to the mid-hills in a land of well-endowed Himalayan splendor with the legendary hospitality of an openhearted people. Please visit his website, Secrets of the Himalaya, for more information.

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I’ve had the blessed fortune to take classes from Usha Devi. Her quote and the rest brought dear memories. She is a precious gift to the yoga world and beyond, her influence touching many lives for the better.